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Patient Advocate Case Examples

Case:  64 year old man was turning 65 and needed Medicare insurance advice

Patient Advocate:

  • Got a medical history and coordinated his records
  • Contacted several insurance companies about supplemental Medicare insurance plans
  • Arranged conference calls with some of the companies, to see what plan best met the patients medical needs.

Case:  70 year old  metastatic melanoma patient was looking for experts on Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

Patient Advocate:

  • Patient has been a client of Patient Advocate for many years so their medical records were organized in MyMedicalRecords.com electronic records management system.
  • Research was done to determine where the most expert doctor was located for this particular hyperbaric treatment.
  • Records were sent, coordination of appointments and travel was arranged.
  • Patient Advocate  escorted this patient out of state for this treatment, and coordinated tests and treatment plan with this medical team.
  • Patient Advocate continued to monitor the patient during his treatment process.

Case:  64 year old male complained of flank pain

Patient Advocate:

  • Got him to a Urologist for evaluation
    Coordinated his x rays and lab work.
    Escorted him to the hospital when surgery was necessary
    Created a pre-op and post op care plan.
    Monitored him at home post op.

Case:  Son has 84 year old Mom with intense “belly” pain

He had taken her to the doctor several times and not tests were ever done.  Finally he took her to the local ER when she was in acute distress. Tests were done and a biopsy was preformed.

Patient Advocate:
Coordinated medical records
Followed up with getting the biopsy results
Arranged for an appointment with local oncologist
Arranged for a second opinion at Stanford
Created a care plan
Coordinated Hospice Care with e-mail calls and text messages
Monitored the patient daily and had care conferences with all the care providers team

Case: 48 year old male, diagnosed 2 years ago with Hepatitis C

He had been waiting for the newest treatment regime. The doctor has given him the prescription with all the potential side-effects, and now the patient is concerned about starting treatment. His question was: “How do I know if I will be the one to have all these side-effects?”

Patient-Advocate:
The answer was to give him education regarding side-effects, methods of dealing with them, and questions to ask his physician regarding the treatment, side-effects and alternatives. He was also given web sites to explore for further information.

CASE: 42 year old female was diagnosed after having biopsy with breast cancer.

She was referred to us by her friend, a physician. Never having been in a Hospital before she had no idea of what to expect.

Patient-Advocate:

  • Helped her obtain information about her diagnosis.
  • Educated her on what portions of her medical records were important for her to have in her possession.
  • Created her treatment plan, pre-op, surgery, and post-op.
  • Help her coordinate her team of medical professionals that would be involved in her care.
  • Met with her in the hospital before surgery, stayed with her family during surgery.
  • Monitored her post operative care.

Case: 52 year old female was having  severe symptoms and experiencing pain and her insurance company refused to pay for surgical treatment that her doctor ordered.

Patient Advocate:

  • Coordinated all her medical records
  • Coordinated efforts with the surgeons office
  • Contacted utilization management at the insurance company (RN to RN!) and supplied them with all the documentation that they needed.
  • Surgery was authorized and a treatment plan was created for pre-op and post-op care.

CASE : 48 year old female patient had a routine annual mammogram and no follow up:

3 weeks later she received a letter from the clinic where the x-rays were done asking her why she had not returned for more test. She asked why she needed more “tests” and they gave her a vague answer. She schedule another visit to have “more tests”. She arrived for her appointment, and the tests were cancelled that day because of equipment malfunction. A week later she was once again scheduled for more tests. She was very frustrated. 3 hours later after having more mammograms with different views she was given some confusing information. At 6PM that night she was told she had a cyst, and that she should come back in 6 months for another breast ultra sound. At 8:30 PM she received a call from the Doctor telling her that she needed to have someone follow up with the cyst diagnosis. At 8:30 AM the next morning she received another call from the office assistant saying that she needed to see a surgeon.

Patient-Advocate:

  • Accompanied the patient for her mammogram per her request
  • Helped her arrange for a second radiology opinion and a biopsy.
  • Assisted in coordinating her medical care team and creating a treatment plan

CASE: The son of a 79 year old man contacted us about obtaining some wound care for his father.

His father had just had Melanoma surgery on his back, and was told by his doctor that he could make the 4 hour drive to visit his son and his new grand daughter for a few days if they could arrange for dressing changes, and post op wound monitoring

Patient-Advocate:

  • Developed a wound care plan with his physician
  • Helped arrange for a nurse to do the dressing changes twice a day.

The patient had a great visit with his family, and his surgical wound continued to heal nicely.

Case: 70 year old male, had shoulder pain

Patient Advocate:

  • Coordinated his medical records and health history
  • Assisted the patient with getting a plan together for evaluation and consult with an ortho surgeon and a second opinion
  • Assisted with a Physical therapy evaluation
  • Created a wellness plan for other ongoing medical issues

Case: 84 year old cancer patient starts to decline quickly

Patient Advocate:
  • Made a house call and did a health assessment
  • Contacted Hospice for an immediate intervention and care
  • Coordinated 24 hour caregivers
  • Assisted the family with medication management

The patient was kept comfortable during the end of life process, his family as able to be family instead of “caregivers”.

Case: 54 year old male injured his finger at work and got an infection.

Patient Advocate:

  • Arranged for Emergency Room Visits
  • Coordinated a plan of care and questions for the patient to ask his health care team
  • Facilitated a 2nd opinion to a hand surgeon, along with post op care.
  • Assisted with a physical therapy evaluation
  • Continued to monitor the infection

Case: 93 year old female sustained a non traumatic femur fracture

Patient Advocate:

  • Arranged for Ambulance transport to the hospital
  • Stayed with the patient in the ER until the patient was admitted
  • Stayed at the bedside in the hospital until the patient went to surgery and was there post op
  • Coordinated a plan of case with the hospital staff.
  • Revised the plan when the patient had a cardiac event and could not have the surgery, but remained on the ventilator
  • Worked with the Bioethics team for end of life and palliative care
  • Coordinated private care givers to be at the bedside at the palliative care hospital, getting text message reports every shift about her status.

Case: 6 Year old boy with swallowing issues

Patient Advocate:

  • Helped the Mom with his health assessment
  • Coordinated getting his medical records in order
  • Assisted in getting a 2nd and 3rd opinion
  • Helped him get transferred to Children’s Hospital to a rare disease specialist
  • Continue to monitor the child”s progress for the next several years
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